A PC user's questions about Airport Extreme & Airport Express

Hi all,
I have a few questions regarding both the Airport Extreme AC and the Airport Express. 
I am a PC user who is currently looking at replacing my Cisco Linksys EA4500(primary router) and my Linksys E2500(bridge router) due to the lack of regular firmware updates that Linksys fails to provide for their routers  and the fact that I simply find Linksys products to be buggy..  Based on my research,  Apple's Airport Extreme N and the AC versions have received excellent reviews on Amazon and I am considering purchasing both the Airport Extreme AC(to replace my Linksys EA4500) and the Airport Express(to replace my Linksys E2500).
Before I get to my questions, let me be frank in saying that I do not have a Mac(but intend to after my desktop dies) at this time but in my house we have two iPhone 4s's and one iPad 2 as far as Apple products are concerned.  My computer network consists of my HP Windows 7 based desktop and HP Windows 7 laptop and I have a home ethernet in every room in the house . In addition, my den's ethernet connection is connected as Ethernet wall jack in which the connections include---->Ethernet switch------>Tivo---->Playstation 3/Xbox 360/Nintendo Wii/----->Samsung Smart TV---->Linksys E2500.
My questions are as follows:
1. Initial/Out of the box set up: Based on what I have read here, it is possible for a PC user to setup the Airport Extreme by downloading the Airport Extreme utility software from Apple. However I have been confused based on what I have read on Amazon in that some users report that the initial setup can only be done using a Mac.  Would someone from this forum kindly clairify this for me? Can I set up the Airport Extreme with my network assuming that I have previously downloaded an installed Apple's Airport Extreme Utility for the PC?
2. Using the Airport Express as a wireless bridge: Currently my Linksys E2500 serves as my secondary router in my den in bridge mode.  Can I set up an Airport Express as a wireless bridge assuming I was sucessfully in setting up my Airport Extreme? On Linksys products this is done by setting the router in bridge mode and assigning it a specific IP address within the bridge router's settings.  So for example, my Linksys E2500 has a 192.168.1.1X IP address, can I do this with the Airport Extreme?  Note the the intention here for the extra router in my den to provide additional wireless coverage due to the size of my home.  I do not need it to provide me with the same wireless network name as my primary router, I only want to provide the back of my house with additional wireless coverage that a primary router will not provide.
3. Router Security and reliability:  I would like the router that I purchase to include regular firmware updates beyond that of one year.  Especially now that most modern routers have some sort of cloud set up,  I wouldn't want to purchase a router today, only to find out that I wouldn't be able to update its firmware one year from now.   With respect to Apple's routers,  how often does Apple release firmware and typically speaking;  how long will Apple support additional firmware releases for its products?
Thanks to anyone who reads and responds to my long post! 

The one problem is Apple using their own automatic port opening system.. NAT-PMP which is fine for apple clients but will not work with almost anything else made which depends on UPNP ..
There are lots of hassles with PS3 and XBox live and anything that depends on standard automatic port opening for interactive internet connection.
Manually opening ports is possible but a pain.
eg
AirPort Extreme and xbox 360
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5385065?tstart=0
I do agree with John Galt that the Apple products are well made and generally great.. they did have a bad capacitor failure issue in the Gen1 and Gen2 TC which he may have forgotten about.. I have repaired about 200 of the bludgers. And there was a dedicated site to pressure apple to fix them.. with 2500 recorded dead TC.
See http://timecapsuledead.org/
See
https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modem s/apple-time-capsule-repair
And some ongoing issues.. even post getting that fixed up.
https://sites.google.com/site/lapastenague/a-deconstruction-of-routers-and-modem s/apple-time-capsule-repair/new-issue-with-a1355-gen-3-tc
But the AEBS had external power supply so didn't add to the heat of built in HDD and power supply in a case too small without cooling. New ones seem to have learnt the lessons of the past in that the power supply is internal but they use a fan system to keep it cool.
See http://www.ifixit.com/Device/Apple_Time_Capsule for internal construction.. TC and AEBS are now identical except for the hard disk.
An option worth considering is using a router with third party source firmware.
You are then never cut off from great updated firmware.. and you can do amazingly more with the fuller setup that includes Telnet cli and extensive interface on the GUI.
Eg Gargoyle on a Netgear WNDR3800 or even cheaper TP-Link WDR3600 or WDR4300.
These offer full QoS, not in Apple products.
Full throttling controls, not in Apple products.
Quota, not in any other products in domestic market at all.
NAT-PMP and UPNP, not in Apple products.
VPN, not in Apple products.
Multiple VLAN, Multiple IP addressing, not in Apple producs.
SMTP, which Apple removed from all their new products.. no reason why.
Log access, which Apple removed from the new airport utility.. no reason why.
etc.
If for some reason that firmware doesn't suit.. you can flash over to DD-WRT, or OPENWRT.. etc. in other words you are never again beholden to the manufacturer who after the product is EOL is also end of support.

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    Get trained by little kids on youtube..
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  • AirPort Extreme + AirPort Express for AirTunes

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